


Templar

by Wolfgem90



Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-04-24 11:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14354739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfgem90/pseuds/Wolfgem90
Summary: ADVENT has taken control of the world. While most have accepted the rule of their alien masters, there are still those who resist. Andre was a citizen of ADVENT, and a chance encounter with a Templar that nearly cost him his life changed that forever. Now caught in the unknown plans of his benefactors, he must face the trials and challenges of being one of the last free Humans.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Unification Day

Andre waded through a huge crowd while pulling a small girl along. After a good ten minutes of searching Andre found a seat. Andre admired the speed that ADVENT had erected the bleachers in the city square. In just an hour, the city square was a chaotic mess of booths and tents there was even a rock climbing wall. The only thing that stood in the square was huge set of bleachers and a massive screen which was now in the middle of the square.

After a couple of minutes most people began settling down and City Minister Erwin walked up to a podium and began to speak, motioning for the crowd to quiet. "I would like to thank you all for coming to the celebration of Unification Day."

He paused briefly as the crowd waited in rapt attention. "As most of us know, this is the fifth anniversary of the formation of the ADVENT Coalition and the end of the terrible conflict that resulted in so many deaths," the Minister paused for a moment."We've had a great amount of support today. Which is why it's a great honor that we close today's celebration with a message from the Speaker himself!"

A huge screen turned on behind him, and a tall man with long wavy hair walked onto the stage to the applause of the crowd. "People of ADVENT," he began somberly as the crowd quieted. "It has been five years since the war ended; five years ago humanity fought a misguided war against the Elders, and unfortunately, forced their hand."

There was a brief, contemplative pause. "But the Elders are gracious and merciful; they have given humanity a second chance and have helped them rebuild from the ashes, such destruction caused by the reckless actions of a few, and have bestowed many gifts to aid in this task."

The Speaker lightly banged his fist against the podium. "Yet there are still misguided individuals who refuse to accept that the Elders only offer peace and friendship. These individuals strive to return to the violent and regressive days of old."

The Speaker leaned on his podium. "They wish a return to the days where fear was prevalent throughout society. The days where humanity was divided and corruption was rampant. The days when humanity killed each other over trivial disputes."

He paused for obvious effect. "Those days are over. The Elders have been working tirelessly to make humanity whole and relive it of the troubles that have plagued it for so long. ADVENT has already made significant strides in rebuilding, improving, and expanding humanity. Though the Elders have removed the cities of the old world, it was necessary to make the city centers we have today."

The Speaker pushed his glasses up on his face. "The people no longer have to be afraid of walking down the wrong street at night. Those who want to kill, rape and steal are no longer protected by a corrupt system. ADVENT and the Elders are devoted to uplifting humanity."

Another pause as the Speaker's gaze traveled over the crowd. "That is why it is an honor to announce the new ADVENT Clinic Initiative, which will establish a gene therapy clinic in every city center which will assist all citizens with their medical needs. This initiative will bring humanity into a new golden age and usher in untold centuries of peace and prosperity." The huge screen shut off to the crowd's cheer.

Afterwards a large column of troops lead by a general clad in gold armor wearing a black cape with a golden ADVENT insignia n the center marched down the main road flanked on both sides by mechs and soldiers behind him, while Archons flew over the column. ADVENT officials walked up and down the sidewalks and offered ADVENT burgers to the crowd.

Andre smiled to himself and brushed a strand of black hair out of his eye. He looked at the little kid holding his hand. She started to pull on his hand. "Andre, I can't see." Andre had to oblige her, so he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. Andre motioned to one of the officials. "Can I have two ADVENT burgers please." The official pulled out two wrapped burgers and passed them to Andre.

"These burgers are amazing." She said, stopping to eat her burger.. " I can't wait to see if there are any cool new action figures!" Maggie exclaimed excitedly after she'd finished. "I want an ADVENT Captain. I like the color scheme better, don't you think so uncle Andre?"

Having only been one year old at the time of the invasion, Maggie didn't know much about it. Andre smiled, and thought of how good it must feel to be that innocent.

"I like the ADVENT Lancer. I think that the ADVENT Lancer design is sleek and elegant, the colors are very simplistic." Andre advised, although he kept pulling her along. "But we have to go home now. Your mom expected you back at eight, and we're already late."

"Yeah," Maggie yawned. "I feel kinda sleepy."

 

***  
Emma's House

"Thank you for taking Maggie to watch the Speaker," Emma said. "It must have been very exciting for her, getting to see all the soldiers in their dress uniforms. You know she loves watching the soldiers in parades."

Andre couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry about it Emma. Besides, who can resist a smile like Maggie's?" He glanced down at his watch. "It's getting late and I want to be home before the curfew, so I have to say goodbye." Andre bent down and gave Maggie a hug and kissed her on the forehead. He went to hug Emma but she stopped him and motioned him to follow. "Can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

They walked into Emma's bedroom " Thank you for stepping in and looking after Maggie. It's been really hard after Juan died. He was something wasn't he?"

Andre cracked a small smile. "He was a badass." She then pulled out a small box from her dresser.

Inside the box was a set of dog tags, various medals and a couple of photos containing soldiers in various poses. The one soldier that was in all the photos was a short man in light armor. The mask the man wore was a full face mask with most of the front made of bulletproof glass with a skull drawn on it. The man held a shotgun and an auto pistol was hanging from his waist.

"A few weeks before the war ended I received these from XCOM. With all that happened during the end of the war I misplaced these. Some of this stuff is addressed to you." She pulled out a photo of Andre and Juan together, a couple of medals and a set of dog tags.

"You don't want the dog tags?" Andre asked.

"No, you were closer to Juan than I was," she shook her head. "And besides I already have him close to my heart." She then motioned to a heart shaped locket.

"Thank you, this means a lot to me." Andre said, while giving her one last hug before going into Maggie's room to find her already fast asleep. He walked in and kissed her on her forehead gently and then he left.

Unfortunately for Andre, he lived on the outskirts of the city center and it was a rather long walk from the closest bus station. Andre reached into his pocket and pulled out an A-phone and carefully put the earbuds in.

Since the war ended ADVENT has been slowly erasing and replacing human culture, but phasing out phones was a daunting task so they had begun integrating ADVENT-approved devices. As he was walking down the street, he noticed a new sign but didn't bother to look at it. Not paying attention, he ran directly into an ADVENT Officer.

"What are you doing here?" The Officer demanded. With English being one of the primary languages of the world, ADVENT had made it standard for all ADVENT officials.

"It is past curfew," the Officer warned again, taking a step forward. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Why not?" Andre asked, confused.

"There is an active investigation in this area," the Officer answered, towering over him. "There were signs everywhere." The Officer then noticed a bulge in his pocket. "What is in your pocket? May I see it?"

Andre hesitantly handed the Officer the parcel. He opened the parcel and found the medals and photo of Andre and Juan. "You realize that this is contraband?"

Andre didn't say anything, leaving the Officer to stare down at him. "We need you to come with us for questioning-" he began, before a single shot rang out in the distance and the Officer suddenly fell to the ground.

Andre quickly dropped to the ground as gunshots rang out. After what seemed like five hours, the gunshots stopped then he got up and sprinted into the nearby alley. To his surprise, he saw a wounded man in strange-looking armor who seemed to be badly hurt. Andre got closer to the soldier to look at how bad the wound was.

He lifted the armor, saw the wound, and winced. The soldier was dangerously close to death. "Stop!" An ADVENT Trooper suddenly demanded. " Step away from the body!" The Trooper slowly walked down the alley and Andre stayed still, either out of fear or defiance, he wasn't sure, which made the soldier repeat his words. "I said step away from the body!"

The trooper raised his rifle and began speaking unintelligible words into his helmet. Now Andre backed away slowly, but his brother's dog tags dropped and he bent down to pick them up. The soldier saw the XCOM emblem, raised his gun and fired.

It happened too fast to comprehend. All he saw was a strange man sprinting towards the Trooper with what seemed to be a sort of blade made of purple energy. Andre then felt a hot pain in his shoulder followed by more pain in his arm. It was immense, and as he was thrown to the ground, bleeding badly and starting to feel a bit light-headed.

The next thing he knew, a strange man was standing in front of him taking out a roll of gauze. Most of what the man said was incomprehensible and all he heard was something about ADVENT reinforcements and he kept hearing "Follow me. I can help you. Follow me and you'll be alright."

Andre followed for as far as he could. His vision was starting to get blurry, and he had a hard time moving forward but the voice of the strange man told him how close he was and that he was almost there. Andre couldn't go on much farther and the last thing he saw before collapsing was a red van.

***  
Andre's vision was blurry and he started to feel his arm and the pain started to return to him. As his vision returned, he started to notice certain things about the room. It was naturally dark, and he saw a set of purple jars on the table next to him along with an impressive amount of guns that hung on the wall.

He then noticed a tall skinny man with dark brown hair walk in the room. "Good, you're awake," the man began, standing above him. "How are ya feeling?"

He paused briefly. "You know you're lucky to be alive. The standard gauss weapon would have killed you, except for Amos who killed the Officer right as he was firing. Your shoulder is now shattered and you got a permanent scar on your lower arm." He briefly paused to give some time to absorb the rush of information. "Anyway, you're here now; we patched you up and ran some tests on you. Good news: you're capable of interacting with our technology and once your shoulder is healthy you can fight, but for now, you have to rest."

The man looked down at Andre. "We're in a grim situation and need a person like you. That's why my superiors and I want to give you a humble invitation to our merry crew of fighters. We could use you for many things."

Many thoughts crossed his head what technology? Who was Amos? What does he mean fight? "Listen, I don't know anything you mentioned, but I don't want to have any part of this. I know they will bring my family into this."

The man gave him a sour look "You're already blacklisted. They saw you helping one of our guys and they have probably already taken action against your family."

An idea popped into Andre's head "Maybe if you go check on them and keep them safe, I may be open to helping you."

"No," the man quickly replied "Like I said, we're in a grim position and don't have agents to spare. But if you join us, you could protect them yourself."

Andre thought about his offer, the man continued "You can't go back to normal life and you're kinda stuck here."

After a short pause Andre replied "I'll think about it."

The man looked at him with a small smile "Good. I'd advise you not take too long though." Then quickly left the room, leaving Andre alone with his thoughts.


	2. Revelations

Andre woke to find the room he was in buzzing with activity, as a few people were taking guns from the the rack, picking up armor plates and taking some kind of black canisters, then attaching them to their belts. 

Andre attempted to get the attention of one of the men, a short stocky person with cropped brown hair who was picking a gun from the rack with a wave. “What’s going on?” 

“We’re getting ready to deploy,” the man replied, strapping an auto pistol to his belt. 

“Already?” Andre frowned. “It’s only been four day. Don’t your soldiers need rest?” 

“Rest is a luxury that soldiers can’t afford to have especially when at war,” the man said gruffly, pulling on some gloves. “If we attack now we can catch them while they're rebuilding.”

He pulled a radio from his bag and looked to a number on the wall. “In order to maintain the volume of attacks, we’re coordinating with a small group of guerrillas called Die Freie Germanische Bruderschaft or ‘The Free Germanic Brotherhood.’ They were a radical political party of German…” his face contorted in distaste. “Nationalists, before ADVENT took Earth.” 

Andre recalled the previous existence of German nationalists and shivered. “How radical are they?” He asked cautiously. 

The man looked at him grimly. “Very radical. They believe that they are gonna create the Fourth Reich and free the world.” 

Those words made him wince. “Do they believe in the Aryan master race?” 

The man looked up at the ceiling as he answered. “There are definitely some at the top of the group that are like that. But from what I have heard from some who are in it is that this is the only way they found to actively rebel.”

Andre was mildly shocked at just how calmly this was being explained. “Why do you ally yourself with a group of radical nationalists?” 

The response was almost instant. “We will take all the allies we can have as long they want ADVENT off the map.” He glanced down at his gun. “And if they become a problem...we can step in.” 

A light on the wall of the room turned from green to red. The man glanced up and then looked at his watch. “I have to leave now. By the way, my name is Roger.” 

“I’m Andre. It was interesting to talk with you.” Roger nodded farewell as he walked up to a group of armored men by the armor rack and then left the room.

A few minutes later the tall man with dark hair walked up to Andre. Upon closer inspection, Andre noticed that the man’s veins were disturbingly engorged, with some kind of pink fluid flowing through them. 

“Have you made a decision yet?” He asked after a few moment. 

Andre thought for a second. “No, I need more time to think about this. It’s a...major decision.”

The man’s face remained impassive. “ I’m going to be gone for a couple of days, and I would like for you to make your decision by the time I get back.”

The tall man started to walk away but Andre quickly reached out to stop him. “Wait. I didn’t catch your name.” 

The man stopped and narrowed his eyes at Andre. “No. You didn’t.” 

With that he walked out of the room.

***

Minister Erwin sat down at his desk and logged onto his computer to check on recent events. It eventually led him to watching the armor cam from one of the many patrolling soldiers. He saw an Officer stop a citizen just before he died. He switched to the respective Trooper’s cam to see a wounded terrorist on the ground shortly before the Trooper was murdered. 

Erwin looked up to see a tall man with curly light blonde hair entered the room holding a data pad and reading from it. “Ah, Major Riley, what do you have for me?”

He looked up from the screen when he was before Erwin. “Minister, I have some more information on the recent attacks in Vienna.” 

Erwin looked at Riley, puzzled. “They hit Vienna too? That’s very far south compared to the other attacks. Are you sure that it was the same insurgents?” 

“Yes,” Riley explained. “They share symbols with the perpetrators of the attacks in our area. The insurgents have been identified as FGB terrorists. However, based on footage acquired from similar attacks, we have been able identify symbols engraved on the armor.” He consulted his data pad. “After running them through our database we found that the symbols engraved on their armor match symbols from a group of terrorists known as the Templars who are primarily based in the American sector.”

“The American sector?” Erwin frowned. “That is very far away. Why attack us if based in America?” 

Riley shrugged. “This might be because a new cell has appeared and the Templars are expanding their operations.” 

“That is what is most probable.” Erwin agreed. 

Riley looked down at the data pad. “I’ve informed Governor Watson of this development and he has came to the same conclusion we’ve had.” He paused and tapped on his data pad. “There is a meeting that all the ministers of the sector are required to attend in order to discuss what to do.”

Erwin nodded at that. “Understood; I’ll be there.”

***

Erwin stepped out of the ADVENT transport and walked down into a small garden in the center of the complex. He looked up at the large palace which was reminiscent of a cathedral called the Berliner Dom. 

Erwin walked to the building only to be greeted by a pair ADVENT Lancers waiting by the entrance. Erwin pulled out his ADVENT I.D. and showed it to them, who then opened the door. 

The interior of the building was gorgeous. The walls were golden and many paintings hung from them. There was an elaborate pattern of tiles on the floor resembling a pattern from the Palace of Versailles and the ceiling was covered with paintings with golden borders. 

Erwin walked into a common room and saw three sculptures, one on each side of the wall. On his left was a knight wearing armor from the teutonic order; holding a shield that had a cross in the middle. 

On the right side of the room was a man in similar armor except no helmet and the figure had a small cape on his side. The man held a short staff with a jewel on the end. The man had a curly beard and wore a simple crown. At the bottom of the sculpture was an inscription “Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.”

In the center of the room was a large sculpture of an Elder. As Erwin moved to take a closer look he felt someone tap his back. He turned to find a young man in a cadet’s uniform facing him. “Are you city minister Erwin?”

“Yes.” 

Without allowing Erwin any time to ask anything, the man continued. “Governor Watson is having this meeting in the war room. Follow me.” He turned and started walking down a hallway. 

Erwin followed the man as he went down the hallway he noticed a particular painting of Julius Caesar standing over Vercingetorix. The man abruptly stopped and motioned towards a set of doors. “This is the war room. Please step inside.” Erwin complied. 

The war room was a polar opposite to the rest of the building. The only things on the wall were maps, and the walls themselves were bland and grey. In the middle of the room was a holotable displaying a map of the sector. 

Erwin walked up to a tall man with short blonde hair and blue eyes looking down at the holotable. The man noticed him and walked towards him. He gave Erwin a cold stare before giving him a hard handshake. 

“Governor Watson” Erwin greeted coldly. 

The man in question stared at him for a second and gave an emotionless reply. “City Minister Ytterboe.” 

After a few minutes the room was full of people, and Governor started the meeting when everyone was seated. “Gentlemen and ladies, we all know the reason for this meeting. A new threat has appeared in this sector.”

He tapped a button on the table and a 3D image of a Templar appeared on the table. The Templar’s armor was faded and had many scratches and small dents on it. “From what ADVENT Intelligence has gathered from other small terrorist cells, we are dealing with a group called the Templars. They are a group of terrorists who managed to acquire psionic powers. They are now our number one priority.”

The Templar ignited his blade as Watson continued explaining. “While most of the terrorist use conventional weaponry there are a few who have somehow created a gauntlet that is capable of harnessing psionic power.” 

Governor Watson continued “At the moment, we don’t know how these terrorist managed to acquire these abilities and weaponry. Figuring out how this has happened is a priority. It is imperative for us to take one of the psionic Templars alive.” 

Mutterings broke out at that before the Governor lifted a hand, and continued once it was silent

“A new group has also appeared known as the Free Germanic Brotherhood. While not as dangerous as the Templars, they’re still a threat that must be dealt with 

He paused briefly to let that sink in. “We must stop this before it grows into something bigger. That is why I have requested the support of the ADVENT Elite Lancer Corp. I have also started to ask certain colleagues in ADVENT High command to allocate more funding to the Priest program .”

“Will we have access to any alien forces?” Erwin asked. 

Governor Watson took a second to respond. “We won’t have access to advanced alien forces, but we will be allocated Sectoids and Vipers.”

After a few moments of internal discussion, Governor Watson continued. “Should this situation get out of hand, ADVENT High command may allocate more advanced alien troops.” He looked at a data pad briefly before continuing. “This threat must be dealt with immediately. That is all. Dismissed.” He placed a fist over his chest. This gesture was repeated by all in the room and then walked out of the room. 

As Erwin was walking out of the room he got a high priority alert and quickly tapped his earpiece. “Yes, what is it?” 

“There has been an attack.” A frantic voice from the other line quickly blurted out.

“Sorry,” Erwin interrupted. “Say that again, you spoke too fast!” 

After a short pause Riley took a deep breath before continuing. “There is an attack in progress at the north fuel depot.” 

Erwin gave a heavy sigh before asking: “Do we know who is attacking us?”

But he already knew the answer before he even asked. 

***

Amos ran next to the car and ducked down. He surveyed the battlefield and saw multiple ADVENT Troopers lined up by the second checkpoint of the fuel depot. 

The rest of the garrison was now moving towards their position. He noticed a tower in the corner of the complex then ducked down again. He heard a loud crack and looked behind him to see bullet hole in the wall. 

“They have snipers!” Amos called out to Fredric.

His friend looked at him.. “Not for long.” He replied, nodding, before going back to looking down his sniper rifle. Amos then looked at the other soldiers by him and motioned to two of them. 

“You two on me.” As they ran up to the car he peaked out of the car and saw two ADVENT Troopers behind cover. He looked at them “I’m gonna run up there. I need you to suppress them for me.” 

As he heard them fire, he pulled out a flashbang and threw it at the troopers, then immediately got up and sprinted up to them. He ignited his Templar blades and slashed the first trooper across the chest. The second trooper was recovering from the flash bang and once he was lucid enough, pointed his rifle at Amos who had the other trooper as a human shield.

The trooper pulled the trigger and a hail of gauss fire hit the corpse square in the chest. The gause fire stopped; silenced by a volley of bullets. Amos noticed the soldiers that were suppressing the troopers for him ran up the cover he was at. 

He gave them a quick nod and proceeded forward, then heard an explosion on the other side of the depot and gavea small smile. As the other people in his squad caught up to him he walked over the the sealed door and pulled out a small explosive and placed it on the door.

The explosion destroyed the door and in the room behind the door was an ADVENT Officer flanked by troopers. Gauss fire rang out and one of the soldiers with him fell. Amos looked behind him and found Fredric looking down the scope. He heard a loud BANG and then saw another trooper fall. 

He pulled out a grenade and motioned to his squadmates. “I’ll throw a grenade in there to flush them out. You guys have to take them down once they move!” They all nodded and got into positions. He held the grenade and threw it into the room. 

He saw several Troopers dive for cover forcing one to expose himself and as a result was quickly gunned down. He also heard a scream and assumed that another trooper was caught by the grenade. Amos ignited his blades again crossed them. After a few seconds, a small veil of energy spread from the blades and formed a bright diamond in front of of his body. That done, he then ran into the room. 

Amos moved to a wounded trooper and finished him off with a decapitation. He stopped, looked around, and found a group of troopers to his right. Gathering his focus, he started to concentrate hard and began to feel heat arise in his arms; he kept concentrating and then turned the corner and let the energy free. A purple bolt of lightning erupted from his fingers streaking towards the startled soldiers. 

The ADVENT troopers fell to the ground, dead. He then ran to the Officer who seemed shocked at the raw display of power. Before the Officer could react, Amos had gotten close and slashed his chest open. 

Amos suddenly realized that he didn’t kill the Officer who had pulled up his rifle. He quickly pushed the gun up and bullets hit the ceiling. The Officer kicked Amos in the chest but before he could do anything else, the Officer was shot down by a sniper. 

He still heard combat in the distance near the other side of the compound and ran towards that direction. He soon came upon a large fuel tank surrounded by barrels of fuel. He smiled and pulled out his last explosive and placed it on the tank. In the background, the sound of gunshots stopped leaving only silence. 

Amos ran outside to the second checkpoint and waited for everyone else to join him. He pulled out a radio. “Charges are planted and everyone is here and waiting to leave.” 

After a couple seconds a gravelly voice broke the silence “Acknowledged Grafen One, the evac point is just outside the fuel depot.” Amos then proceeded to detonate the bomb causing a large portion of the fuel depot became a magnificent explosion. 

As Amos ran to the first checkpoint he was horrified to find three ADVENT weaponized trucks in a semicircle supported by multiple squads of ADVENT Troopers. He immediately moved into cover, slowly pulling out his radio again. “We have a problem.”


	3. Capture

The sound of gauss fire filled the air. Amos heard a scream and saw one of his squadmates collapse. Overhead, two ADVENT Dropships circled the depot with search lights periodically shifting from soldier to soldier. Amo’s radio buzzed. “Grafen One, what’s going on down there?”

A bullet hit the wall that he was behind. A prompt update was in order. “ADVENT reinforcements have us pinned down at the entrance of the fuel depot.” 

Amos saw Fredrick pop out of cover to take a potshot, but accomplished nothing. He also noticed that the ADVENT Lancer squads moving on their position, their stun batons at the ready. As one of the Lancers was advancing, one of his squadmates managed to fire a few shots that hit the Lancer, who stumbled, then shot back in retaliation, killing the offending fighter.

“Grafen One we got a priority report from the FGB,” the voice informed over the radio. “The squad that was sent to help you destroy the depot has failed.” At those words, Amos came to the horrific realization that they were caught between a rock and a hard place. 

“There may be a way to escape,” the voice advised. “You could try to leave through the entrance that the FGB tried to use. It should be weakened.” Amos heard the loud clanking of the ADVENT armor and pulled out his SMG. He saw a shadow turn the corner followed by a Lancer, he unleashed a volley of bullets at the Lancer, stunning it. After that he quickly stabbed it in the jaw just under the helmet, and the Lancer collapsed, dead. 

Amos took a breath, finally addressing the voice. “That wouldn’t work! It’s too far and if ADVENT has reinforcements in this entrance, they probably reinforced that one to and any guards that were killed would’ve been replaced.” 

“You could try the shipping area of the depot,” came the answer. “You could probably find a boat or you can try to swim away.” 

He recalled that in the briefing they talked about this. In the northern part of the depot, there was a small port that led to the baltic sea. The port was the main supplier of fuel for the Norwegian counties.

Amos looked over to see a Trooper fall from the the turret on the weaponized vans just to be replaced by another one. He looked over to his remaining squadmates “You guys got all of the that?” He asked. After hearing all of them confirm, he continued. “We need get away from the vans! Russel! Throw a smoke grenade at the entrance.” The stocky man tossed a smoke grenade in the suggested direction, covering the entrance in a thick cloud of smoke.

“Now!” Almost all the men behind cover sprang up and started to run towards the second checkpoint while the rest shot through the smoke to try and suppress the Troopers that tried to pass the wall of smoke. He saw gauss round fly into the smoke as the vans tried to stop anyone who thought of running. 

He heard a scream and turned to see Russel, who was with the group suppressing the Troopers, succumb to the hail of gauss fire. He saw the ones who ran back find some cover and suppressed the Troopers for the ones in front who took the opportunity to fall back.

As they were getting to the main entrance to the depot, which was relatively unscathed from the explosion, there were a couple of Troopers sitting down at the end of the room. One of the troopers wore a strange white suit of armor and was the only one with a helmet on. The group seemed to be bathed in a faint red light which was probably just blood reflecting of the lights.

Seeing a great opportunity to catch them by surprise, he sprinted towards the group. He thought he heard a shout but disregarded it. When he got past the door he felt a cold metallic object hit his head and as he was falling, the last thing he saw was an Officer standing over him. 

***  
Amos woke up to find himself on the ground with an Officer standing a few feet away from him in what seemed to be a different part of the room. He heard the sound of combat and tried to move but found that his hands and feet were bound. The Officer noticed that he was awake and gave him a quick kick in the ribs causing him to stop moving on the ground.

The gunshots outside kept getting louder and he saw the Officer stop and grab his gun to get behind cover along with a group of soldiers. As the officer was walking away he noticed his gauntlets were hanging from his waist. The soldiers that were resting repositioned themselves around the various vehicles with the soldier in white behind the rest with parts of the suit glowing red. 

Amos positioned himself so he could see out the door and caught a glimpse of a figure running past the door causing the Troopers to fire at the door but were too late to catch the figure. He saw flashes of light from the door and he heard loud thuds and saw a red barrier. After multiple rounds hit the barrier he noticed small cracks appear on it. 

He saw some of the Troopers shift nervously and the Officer gave the order to fire. The red barrier disappeared and the Troopers opened fire before he saw a grenade lobbed into the room causing the Troopers to scatter and he saw the squadmates who fell behind catch up. The Officer was quickly killed by Fredrick and the Troopers soon fell back and he saw the soldiers move past him and Fredrick untied him and helped him up. “ Stop running so fast. Not all of us can keep up.” 

Amos nodded a took a second to take his gauntlets back then tried find his SMG to no avail. He looked down at his gauntlets and ignited his blade. 

***

Emma changed the channel to the Hallmark movies and mysteries which was airing a show called Psych. The main character was in the middle of explaining the solution of the mystery to all of the other characters. 

Sighing, she flipped the channel again this time it was to Ion television which had some new show she never really followed. This continued, channel after channel until she found herself on the ADVENT Public Network, watching some documentary about the formation of ADVENT and the wars before it. 

The screen shifted to an image of one of the fuel depots from the perspective of one of an APN helicopter. To her horror she saw most of the depot in flames and noticed figures on the ground frantically moving around the area. When the camera zoomed in she recognized the ADVENT peacekeepers moving to find people under rubble and directing others. The camera shifted and revealed ADVENT medics helping the victims in a makeshift hospital and emergency vehicles entering and leaving the area. 

The screen then turned to the to two people sitting down at the desk a large middle aged man with a black hair that was obviously dyed sat on the left and a small young woman with long blonde hair.

The man was fiddling with a datapad on the desk. “This is James Rodney from APN joined by Jullia Brenard. The videos that were just shown are from the Davison Feller fuel depot. It appears that there has been another terror attack.” 

The screen shifted back to the videos and while Jullia started talking. “The reports have said that the northern side of the depot was attacked an hour ago. We have the video feed from the outside cameras. Warning: Please be advised that this content is graphic.” 

There were figures in the distance that grew and soon she could see the strange clothes that were almost like robes and bags that they were wearing. An ADVENT Officer moved towards the group and started to talk with them. Suddenly the closest person reached into the bag and pulled out a short gun but the video cut. 

But Emily already knew what happened to the man. All that was going through her head was the pictures of the wounded and those killed. She looked down and felt tears start to form in her eyes. 

“The Justice Branch has notified us that they have the terrorists trapped in the depot with no possible way of escape. We would like to thank these brave peacekeepers for putting their lives on the line in order to protect us.” 

James looked away from the camera and tapped the radio on his ear and mumbled something. After a couple of seconds he turned back to the screen and it was easy to see the concern on his face. “It has been confirmed that this wasn’t the only terror attack that happened today. There have been four other confirmed locations that have been attacked. The other cities are Vienna, Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt.”

Jullia picked up her data pad and picked up where Jake left off. “As of right now the Justice department has released little about the other locations. When the situation is completely contained, we are expecting a statement from the Justice department. That is all for now on this special report, we’ll be back in the 8:00 P.M. news with updates and more.”

Emma just sat there for a few seconds in shock all she could think of was the pictures from the news broadcast. 

Why would anyone do this? It was wrong; disgusting. Why attack those who are just trying to get by, those who don’t want to hurt anyone?. Just because ADVENT used violent methods to unite the world didn’t mean attacking innocents was right. Placing the burden of rebuilding on the common person was more justifiable.

Uniting humanity itself wasn’t a bad idea, and the world almost united during the invasion. But ultimately, humanity under the aliens was a perversion of that idea. Letting out a heavy sigh she turned off the TV and went to check on Maggie who was fast asleep.

 

***

Ryan stood over the corpse of an ADVENT Officer, looking down, and admiring the destruction that had just occurred. He looked over to find a woman dressed in black with her face concealed by a black bandanna and a hood. The woman picked up a rifle and stared back at him. 

A tall slender man wearing the same black clothing walked up to the area, and in a stern voice that commanded attention, gave his orders. “Volander twins, break is over. The charges are set. Get your asses in gear.” 

The women looked at him he nodded “Rosie. Ulrich is finished it’s time we head out, wouldn’t want ADVENT to catch us.” As they were leaving Ryan looked down at the Officer, reaching down and taking the dogtags. This one will definitely make the quartermaster happy, he thought before putting it in his belt. 

Once they left the room Ryan felt cold air fill his lungs and took a look at the bustling city of Vienna. While this section of the city was quiet for the most part, he could make out a lot of activity in the other sections. 

He watched as a black van pulled up and they boarded the van. Once inside, Rose pulled her bandanna down revealing a pale face with a carefree smile. “Well, that was a hard one. We were lucky that they only had a couple guards posted at this outpost. They’ll be sad once it’s gone.” 

Ryan shook his head and pulled of his bandanna and hood revealing short golden hair and a small mustaches forming on his lip. Rose looked at him and after a couple seconds of her staring, finally asked. “What do you want?” While giving her a hard look

“Well,” she began, tapping a finger on her chin. “I think that you need to shave. That mustache doesn't suit you very well and from what I’ve heard, the girl from the supply core doesn’t like facial hair.” 

Shaking his head, Ryan changed the subject. “Did you hear about the new alliance that the northern cells made? They call themselves the Templars, apparently they’ve have harnessed the psionic powers the aliens use.” 

“Those powers shouldn’t be tampered with,” a third voice interjected. “The last time humans were entrusted with that power they betrayed us for the aliens.” Ulrich took off his bandanna off and revealed a scarred face and on his forehead was a tattoo with an iron cross. 

“They’re fools for trusting anyone using psionics, they’re digging their own graves and they’ll bring us all down with them. The northern cells are overstepping their bounds.” Ulrich shook his head and pulled out a book that he left in the van. With a weathered cover on old pages and the the faded title that read Infantry Tactics. 

The van came to a stop, and after exiting the van Ryan was greeted by the smell of smoke and saw a small fire in an old rusting barrel with many people hunched over it. To the left were old buildings with faded red bricks and that remained locked and with no one left to open them. 

Motioning to the others Ryan stated to walk towards the right which was a mess of faded roads that cracked in many places. On the corner was an old shop that once housed sporting goods. But it now housed an alien pod and an array of green figures trapped with the pod in the store. 

Looking around he spotted a elderly man standing next to a door outside a large warehouse surrounded by rusting fences. He gave a brief nod to the man who opened the door. The inside of the room was relatively bare, with a couple of chairs and a water cooler. In the corner of the room was a reception desk with a young lady with long braided blonde hair. 

Ulrich walked towards the blonde lady and started to talk to her quietly. After a few minutes of talking, she got up and unlocked the door behind the desk. The ground floor was a maze of crates, shelves and tables. In the heart of the maze was a common area where many people could be found milling about. The also was a staircase that led to a basement area. 

The stairs led to an underground labyrinth containing many rooms, most of which contained guns, grenades and armor while others housed beds and couches. One of the rooms in the maze was a big room with a large table in the center of the room. Standing in the room was a tall muscular man with a shaved head. Ulrich looked at the man and greeted him with a salute.

“Sir! Mission objectives achieved with minimal casualties, they didn’t expect a thing.” The man nodded and looked at the squad and nodded. “We will debrief in two hours, until then take time to rest.”

***  
Amos ran into the next room to find a large warehouse that housed a huge unfinished tanker that seemed to be abandoned. The ground was littered with wooden pallets, metal beams, and coils of rope. In the corner of warehouse was a makeshift workshop hosting many different power tools. 

He looked over to the ship which had its inner skeleton exposed and saw behind it was a ramp which lead to the ocean. Next to the ram was a dock and which had ADVENT patrol ships tied up. He looked to find what little squadmates he had left and motioned them to join him. 

As they were running towards the dock a loud hum could be heard and overhead three ADVENT dropships shot towards their group. He saw a soldier in black armor peek out of the ship and pulled a side mounted machine gun. As the ships came closer thumping could be heard on the roof and out of the corner of his eye he noticed shadows cross the window.

Amos ignited his blades and called the others to back into the interior of the building. As they entered the building he heard loud footsteps behind him and he moved to close the door. 

Before the door could close several objects flew through the doorway and landed in the center of the room. A thick yellow gas erupted from the canisters and a loud crash could be heard as ADVENT Lancers rushed through the door. As the gas filled the room Amos could feel a hot pain erupt all over his body and he heard screams of pain from the other people in the room. The Lancers advanced quickly, subduing the soldiers in their path and before Amos react and light his blades he felt a hard hit to the head and saw the ceiling before the world went black.


End file.
